


What Goes Around... (Spoilers)

by Ithiel_Dragon



Series: Blessed Are The Peacemakers [5]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, Post-Chapter 6: Beaver Hollow (Red Dead Redemption 2), Red Dead Redemption 2: Side Mission Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-23 21:02:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16626398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithiel_Dragon/pseuds/Ithiel_Dragon
Summary: Arthur receives help from a very unlikely source.





	What Goes Around... (Spoilers)

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after Chapter 6 of the game. I'm planning on writing a few more stories set in between this one and my other stories in this series so if you'd rather read them in order, you might want to skip this one for now. I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep this story in the series, but the idea bit me so damned hard, I HAD to write it now.

In the end, Arthur owed his life to the Pinkertons. 

Not something he ever thought he’d say. 

He'd really thought it was over when he lost consciousness on the mountain. So imagine his surprise when later he woke in a jail cell.

Needless to say the next several weeks were far from pleasant, and made him wish he _had_ died on that mountain.  The Pinkertons made sure he got medical treatment (such as it was).  Food and water (though most of the time he couldn’t keep it down). They weren’t even all that rough with him (they didn’t want him dying in the middle of questioning, after all). But near every moment was pure agony.  Every time he coughed (which was most of the time) it felt like his ribs were full of knives slicing up his insides. Every day it seemed less and less air wanted to fill his lungs.  He spent most of his days and nights in a feverish stupor, unsure what was real and what wasn't. 

Their biggest threat was that they would hang him unless he told them all he knew about Dutch.  He’d been a member of the gang for twenty some years, after all. They figured if there was anyone who knew Dutch van der Linde, where he was going, what he was planning, it would be him… Arthur wanted to laugh (he didn’t because he knew it would hurt too damned much).  Even if he _wanted_ to give up the bastard (because it was damned tempting) the Pinkertons were wasting their time.

He didn't know who Dutch was anymore.  In the end, Arthur barely recognized the man who'd practically raised him.  Dutch had called him a 'son' so many times but had left him to die, not once, but _twice_ in the end. He'd abandoned John in Saint Denis, and nearly left him to hang in prison.  He'd even let Arthur believe John was dead after that last train job, just to punish him… So many people dead in the end, people he’d known for years, people Arthur had thought of as _family_.  All because of Dutch’s _greed_. Maybe he never really knew Dutch at all...

But he wasn’t a rat.  He wasn’t like Micah, and he was a dead man anyway… What did he really have to lose anymore? Some days he almost wished they _would_ hang him.  Instead of letting him slowly drown in his own blood...

* * *

“Oh my… you certainly don’t look very good there, sport,” a voice… it sounded kind of familiar… broke through the haze surrounding Arthur’s mind.  He tried to open his eyes. Tried to focus on the person speaking to him. But it was a losing battle.

“There, there… easy now.  I apologize for being so… late… but it took me a little while to find you,” the voice continued, and Arthur felt someone pat his hand in a friendly manner.

“Who…” Arthur barely managed to choke out.  His throat felt like it was filled with glass.

“Francis Sinclair.  You remember me, don’t you, old chap? You did me a great service, finding those rock carvings. So I thought it was only fair… well… I’m not really supposed to do this. But since you helped _me_ , I think it’s the least I can do,” the man went on and Arthur finally managed to look blearily at the man standing next to his cot. 

Red hair.  The strange mark on his face.  The odd clothes. They were all familiar, all right.  How could he forget? It had been one of the strangest experiences of his life. Whole thing made no sense.  Made even less now, seeing the man again in his goddamn jail cell of all places. Maybe he was hallucinating the whole thing… that would make more sense...

“What are you doing here?” Arthur wheezed as he watched the strange man set down a bag and start fiddling around with the things inside it. 

“I told you! I’m traveling!” Francis replied, sounding far too chipper in Arthur’s opinion. 

He felt the man doing something with his arm, felt a sharp pinch near his elbow, and a slight burn under the skin.  He wanted to flinch away from the sensation but he was far too weak.

“What was that?”

“Oh, just something I picked up on my travels.  You should start to feel better soon,” Francis stated happily and started gathering up his things.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?”

“Not at all! Now, I hope you’ll excuse me.  I should go before the guards come back around.  We probably won’t see each other again, Mr. Morgan but… I wish you all the best.”

“Wait…” Arthur tried to protest, he needed answers, damn it.  But his vision was already beginning to grow hazy again and soon he felt himself slipping under. 

* * *

When he opened his eyes again he was alone in his jail cell. 

Of course he was… he must have dreamed the whole thing... It had certainly been one of the strangest dreams he’d ever had.  But at least it was better than the nightmares he sometimes still had about John dying…

But then… the strangest thing happened.  Over the next several weeks, he started to feel better.  He coughed less. Started breathing easier. He even began to get his appetite back.  The doctor the Pinkertons had hired to check up on him regularly was clearly baffled by this sudden turn.  By all rights, Arthur should have been dead by now.

The Pinkertons, of course, took the opportunity to question him a little more… aggressively.  The threats of hanging returned… and wouldn’t that be fucking ironic? To miraculously survive this damned disease, only to be hanged? 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know this is borderline crack... but since it's heavily implied in the 'Geology for Beginners' side quest that you meet an honest to god TIME traveler... well... why not? I guess it's a little more believable than Arthur just showing up one day saying, "I got better." Haha I'd like to know peoples opinion on whether I should keep it or not.


End file.
